Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrived in the Bay Area this week as part of his tour of the United States. The crown prince, who began his tour on March 20, is meeting with the nation's top government and business leaders.
He is said to have ensconced himself in the luxury Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley in East Palo Alto. On Thursday, April 5, about 40 people protesting Saudi Arabia's proxy war in Yemen stood outside the heavily guarded hotel.
The Crown Prince met on Friday with Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and Google CEO Sundar Pichai and a number of senior officials, according to the state Saudi Press Agency. They discussed cooperation on cloud computing services in the kingdom and opportunities in the Digital Transformation Initiative in bringing digital technology to the country and establishing a research, development and training center for Saudi youth. They also discussed ways of enhancing cooperation in cybersecurity.
Salman also met with senior Bay Area investors, including a member of Facebook's board of directors and a partner of Palantir Fund; the chair of Clarium Capital board of directors, the chair of Valar Ventures; Peter Thiel, a partner of the Founders Fund; Marc Andreessen, co-founder of of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz; Sam Altman, a partner at Y Combinator; Vinod Khosla, founder of Kohsla Ventures; and Alex Karp, co-founder and CEO of Palantir Technologies, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
During the meeting, they reviewed the latest investment projects and opportunities, particularly Saudi Arabia's vision to create an attractive environment for emerging companies with innovative investments.
The crown prince and investors also discussed trends in current investment and targeted sectors, and he invited them to visit the kingdom for a briefing on promising investment opportunities.
The meeting was attended by Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Saudi ambassador to the U,S., and the official delegation accompanying the Crown Prince.
During the early part of the week, there was much speculation on the Crown Prince's arrival in East Palo Alto. The online tech news website Recode reported that the Four Seasons wasn't accepting reservations from Monday through Saturday, according to the hotel's director of rooms, Ehab Mekhael. Some guests who had previously reserved rooms were moved to other swanky hotels. Hotel management is telling those relocated guests it needs the rooms to accommodate a "large VIP delegation" at the request of the U.S. Department of State, according to an email from the hotel staff obtained by Recode.
"The State Department has approached the hotel for a large VIP delegation next week. Due to the hotel's layout and location they're adamant that we are the best fit for their high security needs which will be restricting the hotel and all outlets from other guests," according to an email the hotel sent to Recode.
Malia O'Connor, Four Seasons Silicon Valley public relations and communications manager, confirmed by email to the Weekly on Monday that the hotel is sold out this week "due to an inbound VIP delegation group. At this moment we have no knowledge of the specific participants of the delegation group and unfortunately have no further information to share."
The Embassy of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Washington, D.C. announced the arrival of Prince Mohammed bin Salman on March 19. The visit is part of the kingdom's Vision 2030 initiative to make Saudi Arabia a modern world player through technology, military, business and finance development and investments.
Salman has met with business leaders in Boston, New York, Seattle, and Los Angeles, and will end his tour in Houston, Texas, according to the embassy.
"The Crown Prince's visit aims to cement the existing close relationship between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States of America," the embassy said in a statement.
Salman, 31, the son of the current monarch, King Salman, was appointed as crown prince in last June. He has embarked on an aggressive campaign of reforms within the kingdom that include restructuring Saudi Arabia's economy, more freedoms for women such as lifting a ban on female drivers and increasing women in the workplace and more restraints on religious police, according to various news reports.
He has also, however, been accused of increasing the persecution and arrests of human rights advocates, according to the Gulf Center for Human Rights, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. He is also accused of destabilizing some Middle Eastern countries, including Yemen, where Saudi Arabia had been involved in a bombing campaign, according to the Gulf Center for Human Rights.
During his U.S. tour, Salman is discussing investment opportunities within Saudi Arabia and vetting investment prospects within the United States that would reinforce bilateral business ties, according to the embassy. Some agreements have already been discussed or signed, including with a major aerospace company on the West Coast.
In the Bay Area, he was scheduled meet with Apple CEO Tim Cook, top Google executives, Lockheed Martin executives and venture-capital investors, according to the embassy and an itinerary obtained by the online news site Axios.
On Saturday, March 31, the prince inked a joint venture agreement between the Saudi Arabian Military Industries Company and Boeing in Seattle, the Saudi state news channel Al-Ekhbariya reported. The joint venture would expand Boeing's presence in Saudi Arabia. The deal would bring to the kingdom more than 55 percent of maintenance and repairs to the kingdom's fighter jets and helicopters. The agreement included technology transfers to integrate weapons on the aircraft and to set up a supply chain for spare parts within Saudi Arabia, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
Boeing has had a presence in the kingdom since 1945, when then-U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt presented a twin-engine Dakota DC-3 airplane to King Abdul Aziz. The event marked the birth of commercial air travel in the kingdom, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
While in Seattle, Salman met with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation co-founder Bill Gates at his home on March 30, and with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
During his visit to southern California on Sunday, April 1, the prince and his entourage visited Virgin Galactic and Mojave Air and Space Port, where he met with Virgin Galactic board Chairman Richard Branson. He was briefed on the company's space technologies and high-speed Hyperloop transportation system. Virgin Galactic unveiled new aircraft fuel compartments, and gave a presentation on spacecraft that will enter commercial services, according to the state Arabian news agency.
The prince and Virgin Galactic also discussed an existing investment partnership, ways of developing the partnership in space services, research collaborations, training Saudi youths, and transforming the Saudi Arabia from a consumer to a technology producer.
The visit builds on last May's historic Riyadh summits, which included a bilateral meeting between the Arab kingdom and the United States. It was President Donald Trump's first overseas meeting.
During the prince's tour, Trump met with Salman at the White House on March 20. During his stay in Washington, the prince met with several key Congressional members from both parties and other influential policy makers, including former president Bill Clinton.
He met with Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan on March 22 to discuss bilateral and regional issues, including the humanitarian situation in Yemen. They agreed on the urgent need for a political process to end the war, according to the U.S. State Department.
The two leaders also discussed containing Iranian influence in the region and exchanged ideas on holding a productive U.S.-Gulf Cooperation Council Summit in the near future. The 2017 summit was marked by rifts.
In New York, the prince met with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and participated in the Saudi-U.S. CEO Forum. He met with officials of the Financial Times Stock Exchange, which announced the Saudi Arabia stock market's classification as a "secondary emerging" market within the exchange's Global Equity Index Series starting in March 2019. The move is expected to attract billions of dollars of foreign investment to the kingdom, according to Reuters.
The Crown Prince's last stop was scheduled for Houston this Saturday, April 7. He will visit Aramco Services Company's Research Center and Motiva's Port Arthur facility before heading home, according to the embassy.
Comments
Downtown North
on Apr 2, 2018 at 4:46 pm
on Apr 2, 2018 at 4:46 pm
Saudi Arabia is still a very strict Islamic conservative country. But this prince seems to be taking the country in the right (socially speaking) direction step by step. One can imagine how difficult it is to move an old-style-conservative society in a modern direction. The status of women in the kingdom compared to the civil societies is still awful. But at least there seems to be some effort to loosen up some restrictions on women (like driving rights which is actually a big deal for women in the country). But unfortunately, just like the nearby islamic Iran, wearing hijab is compulsory for women with really severe (medieval-style) penalties for violations.
Midtown
on Apr 2, 2018 at 4:56 pm
on Apr 2, 2018 at 4:56 pm
This guy bragged about owning Jared Kushner.
The Intercept:
SAUDI CROWN PRINCE BOASTED THAT JARED KUSHNER WAS “IN HIS POCKET”
"In late October, Jared Kushner made an unannounced trip to Riyadh, catching some intelligence officials off guard. “The two princes are said to have stayed up until nearly 4 a.m. several nights, swapping stories and planning strategy,” the Washington Post’s David Ignatius reported at the time."
Kushner is in so much debt, and compromised in so many other ways, he is a danger to American security. He saw everything Trump saw for a year, without having a security clearance. Then he goes off and meets wtih guys like this?!?
Wonder what Netenyahu thinks about golden boy Kushner and the Saudi prince?
Crescent Park
on Apr 2, 2018 at 5:18 pm
on Apr 2, 2018 at 5:18 pm
"Wonder what ..."
Reuters article, published earlier this afternoon:
Web Link
"Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said Israelis are entitled to live peacefully on their own land in an interview published on Monday in U.S. magazine The Atlantic, another public sign of ties between Riyadh and Tel Aviv appearing to grow closer."
Midtown
on Apr 2, 2018 at 5:28 pm
on Apr 2, 2018 at 5:28 pm
JA3
I read your link. Did I miss the Natenyahu quote on the Saudi prince's ownership of Kushner?
"Wonder what Netenyahu thinks about golden boy Kushner and the Saudi prince?"
Mayfield
on Apr 2, 2018 at 7:44 pm
on Apr 2, 2018 at 7:44 pm
I wonder why people are so much obsessed with Jared Kushner! Is he going to sell US submarine secrets to Saudis! Saudi Arabia is one of the few countries that the U.S. has trade surplus with. If we are worried about being in the pocket of any country, that should be China that we are so much indebted to. Furthermore, there are many companies in Bay Area that have received funding from the gulf states including Saudi Arabia. Are they all in the pockets of the Crown!
Crescent Park
on Apr 2, 2018 at 8:21 pm
on Apr 2, 2018 at 8:21 pm
There is a book out there called "Secrets Of The Kingdom" by Gerald Posner.
It was a very eye-opening book about a country we know little about but which
has probably as much or more influence over the US as the oft-criticized and
ostracized Israel.
According to this book back in the last decades of the last century the greatest
transfer of wealth ever in the history of the world was from the West to Saudi
Arabia. One of the conditions of doing business with America was the the
amount and specifics of Saudi investment in the US was classified by the
government - a state secret. One has to wonder why that is. Where that money
is and what it is being used for since the claims by the Saudis are that they
are going broke and cannot afford the social programs they traditionally
have had to take care of their people. Sound familiar?
The relationship between our oligarch here in America, and the all powerful
and totalitarian oligarchs of Saudi Arabia is a very dangerous precedent to
have in our country, especially when it is so opaque. The signs of something
hidden are there, in 911 and in Saudi political influence. Even Michael Moore
featured this relationship between the Bush family and the Saudi Royal
family in his movie Fahrenheit 911. Probably one of a few issues that the
Left and the Right can agree on.
This is a country that still has the death penalty and public executions, and it is
almost funny how for as long as I can recall in the news is always promising
to reform but never quite living up to the promise. Documentaries portray
life in Saudi Arabia as contained and surveilled. Young Saudis in school are
chaperoned around foreigners. This totalitarian mind control is completely
contrary to any statements about reform.
Maybe MBS will be different, but as a recent 60 Minutes piece on Saudi Arabia
mentioned that have cut down on but are still support the export of the radical
Wahhabi sect of Sunni Islam. A less recent piece reported on the arrest and
executions of religious figures in opposition to the Saudi religious regime.
It would be a minimal requirement for what has become our pathetic media to
report fully and accurately about what is going on with US-Saudi relations. If
anyone has resources to share that deals with US-Saudi relation, trade and
military cooperation - please post. Some real reform would be great to read
about.
Midtown
on Apr 2, 2018 at 9:18 pm
on Apr 2, 2018 at 9:18 pm
Our generation should then be thankful for the "investment that the West" has done in Saudi Arabia. Because that country is now among a few capable allies that the U.S. has in the region. Alternatively, we can keep undermining the regime in the press and political circles until they will eventually collapse and go in the way Iran's monarchy. What will replace it shall be yet another Islamic dictatorship and a sworn enemy of the West and a puppet of Russia. I wonder in whose interest that outcome would be!
Green Acres
on Apr 2, 2018 at 10:35 pm
on Apr 2, 2018 at 10:35 pm
It is truly wonderful for the crown prince to enjoy the Four Seasons. East Palo Alto civic leaders have much to be proud of. Let us hope the giant Ikea sign doesn't keep his highness awake.
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Apr 3, 2018 at 10:21 am
on Apr 3, 2018 at 10:21 am
@Thomas:
It is sometimes hard to understand if comments made online are serious or sarcastic.
Since I see no quotes or such subtle indicators, I am assuming you are serious; hence, I will ask:
- Are you aware Saudi Arabia IS a monarchy?
- Are you aware Iran is NOT a monarchy?
- Are you aware S.A. is practically an Islamic dictatorship?
- Do we support and befriend dictatorships, monarchies, oppressive regimes as long as they are not pro-some other country? (no response needed to this question)
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Apr 3, 2018 at 10:44 am
on Apr 3, 2018 at 10:44 am
@Resident.
I think time will tell if the country is being taken in the right direction. One can only hope for the continuation of more socially progressive policies.
Having said this, I do want to point out a major difference in women's rights between Saudi Arabia and Iran. In Iran:
- women can go to school: majority of university students are female
- women can practice a profession and participate in economic, social, and political life: there are several female members of parliament.
- women can travel domestically and internationally without a male chaperone, let alone drive cars.
There is undeniable major oppression and gender inequality in Iran, legally and in practice; but in no way can this be compared to Saudi Arabia.
Compulsory hijab and the corporal punishment for any violations is NOT the most atrocious oppression. Unfortunately, it is the first, and sometimes only, topic that people talk about.
Menlo Park
on Apr 3, 2018 at 11:38 am
on Apr 3, 2018 at 11:38 am
> According to this book back in the last decades of the last century the greatest
transfer of wealth ever in the history of the world was from the West to Saudi
Arabia. One of the conditions of doing business with America was the
amount and specifics of Saudi investment in the US was classified by the
government - a state secret. One has to wonder why that is. Where that money
is and what it is being used for since the claims by the Saudis are that they
are going broke and cannot afford the social programs they traditionally
have had to take care of their people. Sound familiar?
These are fantastic claims and not believable. Saudi Arabia rightly receives immense sums in payment for the oil it sells. But they're not that important to US oil consumption. As of 2012, Saudi Arabia only provides about 7.5% of the US oil supply, third after domestic production (38%) and Canada (15%). (Web Link
Crescent Park
on Apr 3, 2018 at 12:53 pm
on Apr 3, 2018 at 12:53 pm
>>>> According to this book back in the last decades of the last century the greatest transfer of wealth ever in the history of the world was from the West to Saudi Arabia.
>> These are fantastic claims and not believable.
That particular fact stuck with me because I remember reading about it also in the Economist magazine.
The Economist: The future of energy - The end of the Oil Age Web Link
'' That points to a second sort of cost. According to one American government estimate, OPEC has managed to transfer a staggering $7 trillion in wealth from American consumers to producers over the past three decades by keeping the oil price above its true market-clearing level. That estimate does not include all manner of subsidies doled out to the fossil-fuel industry, ranging from cheap access to oil on government land to the ongoing American military presence in the Middle East. ''
What do you and your "Liker" lackeys say to some real facts Jim ?
Registered user
Barron Park
on Apr 3, 2018 at 1:01 pm
Registered user
on Apr 3, 2018 at 1:01 pm
Realist made some valid points in comparing Iran with Saudi Arabia. To the US government, Iran is an enemy while Saudi Arabia is a special friend. As Realist correctly pointed out, their relationships with the USA have nothing whatsoever to do with what kind of countries they are, how their governments treat their people, or what religion they practice. The main criterion for friendship with the USA is that the government accepts the supremacy of the USA in the world. Saudi Arabia does and Iran doesn't.
Crescent Park
on Apr 3, 2018 at 1:19 pm
on Apr 3, 2018 at 1:19 pm
> What do you and your "Liker" lackeys say to some real facts Jim ?
Ooops, that was my mistake, I was looking at the wrong Likes.
BUT ....
Another fact from this book is that early in the Aramco Oil Consortium days
the Saudis exerted enough influence, i.e. corruption to reach into the oil
companies of the United States and forced them to fire and to not hire any
Jews. When they flew into Texas to see George W. Bush they had all the
women removed from the air control tower.I have not read corroboration of
that in any second source though.
What was ARAMCO, the Arab-American Oil Company, is now fully owned
by Saudi Arabia and called Saudi ARAMCO.
Saudi Arabia is the 4th highest country in military spending in the world.
I've heard that the new numbers say that Saudi Arabia now spends more on
their military than Russia.
United States. : $618.7 billion
China. : $171.4 billion
Russia. : $84.9 billion
Saudi Arabia. : $62.8 billion
France.: $62.3 billion
Another thing if you sum all the EU spending it is more than Russia, and
more than China. Israel by the way is about $18 billion.
Why does the US see Russia, Iran and North Korea as such huge threats,
and we never hear anything about the Saudi military? There is massive media
manipulation about international relations and Saudi Arabia in particular.
The fact is I detest Donald Trump, but he is right in some cases about America
making stupid deals. I have to wonder if he has the ability to focus on the
real issues and not just grandstand to his deplorables.
I submit that one of the reasons the nature of American capitalism has changed
so much and inequality has gotten so much worse is that by America's close
relation to very rich countries with rampant corruption that we have and are
becoming more and more like those countries we used to criticize and have
the moral high-ground over. We are well on the way to treating our own people
the same or worse as some of the worst regimes in the world, and our media
mindlessly drifts along with these changes.
Barron Park
on Apr 3, 2018 at 1:58 pm
on Apr 3, 2018 at 1:58 pm
Saudi Arabia is the number one supporter of terrorism in the world . They were responsible for 9/11 and they are responsbile for all the mass killing of civilians in Yemen. This prince is a war loving mad man and to have him kicking his heals and gathering support to start war with Iran is a crazy thing but in line with trump-Bolton and Pompeo the crazy nut cases who think they can make america great again by starting another world war .
Midtown
on Apr 3, 2018 at 3:59 pm
on Apr 3, 2018 at 3:59 pm
What's to like? I see misogyny, lack of due process and war crimes in Yemen. He's desperate to transition away from oil now that OPEC doesn't have pricing power any more. What does Saudi Arabia have to offer us besides a stable ally in the Middle East? They give all of their jobs to Western educated elite and poor folks from India and Pakistan. What does the native Saudi Arabia population have to offer?
another community
on Apr 3, 2018 at 5:44 pm
on Apr 3, 2018 at 5:44 pm
Why should we care about the Jared/MBS relationship? As usual money to be made and conflict of interests....but nobody seems to care; from Bloomberg:
May 2017....
"When Saudi Arabia announced last week a $20-billion investment in a U.S. infrastructure fund managed by Blackstone Group LP, many noticed that it came shortly after presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner personally negotiated a $110-billion arms sale to the country. What went unnoticed -- and is largely unknown -- is how important Blackstone is to the Kushner family company.
Since 2013, Blackstone has loaned more than $400 million to finance four Kushner Cos. deals -- two of which have not been reported -- making it one of the business’s largest lenders. And their ties go beyond the loans. Stephen Schwarzman, Blackstone’s co-founder and chief executive officer, heads Trump’s business-advisory council and was in Riyadh with the president and Kushner. The Saudi promise to invest in Blackstone’s fund drove the firm’s stock up more than 8 percent. Web Link
Midtown
on Apr 3, 2018 at 10:41 pm
on Apr 3, 2018 at 10:41 pm
@Realist and et. al.
- If I remember correctly, Iran WAS a monarchy before the regime was toppled by the Islamic revolution (search for Shah of Iran to refresh). The hypothesis is that if Saudi regime is toppled, it may turn into even a more radical Islamic regime completely hostile to the West (and most likely allied with Russia and China - like current Iran and Syria).
- The women right in almost all Islamic countries is very restrictive. However, at these low levels of rankings, Saudi Arabia is a little better at #56 while Iran is #79 in ranking of best countries for women (see this Web Link
- Something that is very hard for men to understand is that a compulsory hijab rule is a *visible* symbol of men's dominant position in an Islamic society. Of course even in the West the picture is not perfect for women (see e.g. #meToo movement), but at least the women are not forced to *visibly* declare their submission and obedience while walking in the streets.
Midtown
on Apr 4, 2018 at 9:45 am
on Apr 4, 2018 at 9:45 am
Thomas: "If I remember correctly, Iran WAS a monarchy before the regime was toppled by the Islamic revolution (search for Shah of Iran to refresh)"
Yes. And the Shah propped up by the CIA to replace a democratically elected government. Why do you think Iranians were so pissed about the US, by the 70's?
The US propped up the Shah and trained his SAVAK. You'd be torqued for life if someone did that here.
----
SAVAK ("Organization of National Intelligence and Security") was the secret police, domestic security and intelligence service of Pahlavi dynasty. It was established by Iran's Mohammad Reza Shah with the help of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Israeli MOSSAD.
Mohammad Mosaddegh was an Iranian politician. He was the head of a democratically elected government, holding office as the Prime Minister of Iran from 1951 until 1953, when his government was overthrown in a coup d'état aided by the United States' Central Intelligence Agency and the United Kingdom's Secret Intelligence Service
Note: among many reasons for the CIA coup (strategic location on Russian border, etc..) was he wanted to nationalize Iran's oil.
So claiming Iran was a monarchy all along is really weak.
another community
on Apr 4, 2018 at 3:55 pm
on Apr 4, 2018 at 3:55 pm
I am no expert on Iran, but the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi , installed by the US was the son of the
former Shah of Iran, Reza Shah, who was the one to change the name of the country from Persia, to Iran.
Iran meaning "Aryan", in solidarity with the Nazi racial ideology.
As I understand it, the last Shah modernized the country and Westernized it which caused an Islamic
backlash of fundamentalism, which the Shah brutally repressed. This is a complicated history, confusing
and difficult to figure out or apply Western standards to. I am not really sure any popular interpretation
really makes sense or has it right.
It is ironic that Iran is the country that so hated the US and West when its population is among the most
Liberal and Western in the Middle East. I don't know if anyone can make a valid claim that the country
is more or less repressed now than when the Shah was in power. Now the country is still ruled forcefully
by a plutocratic and isolated elite, albeit religious.
The last Shah replaced the democratically elected and nationalist Mohammad Mosaddegh, and it is
interesting to speculate what might have happened in this great nation had West not overthrown
Mosaddegh and had him murdered. Iran is pretty much of a mess now, but still probably a better
fit for Western ideals than many think and more open minded at least in the cities - their Blue States,
so to speak. ;-) So, by herded the religious fundamentalists a right-wing violent elite was able to
take over and exploit their people - a pattern the West has seen enough of and for long enough that
if we were really concerned about democracy and capitalism we probably would have developed a
solution for it that works.
Mohammad Mosaddegh wanted to help his people with the fantastic riches the oil revenue of his
country would have allowed, but that would have taken money away from the people and the Western
oil companies, and so he was branded a communist, when after having oil sales to the West cut off he
attempted to apply leverage that by turning to Russia. There is no real evidence that he had any
communist tendencies. Americans were just as much manipulated to support this clueless meddling
by our own corporate oligarchs convinced this is what makes America "exceptional".
Escondido School
on Apr 4, 2018 at 11:02 pm
on Apr 4, 2018 at 11:02 pm
I was alerted to the interesting conversation that is going on in this forum about Iran. The conversation is different from the news headline of the article. So, apologizing for being off the headline topic, let me give you my few cents about Iran, role of CIA and mutual friendship.
Everything said about the role of CIA in stabilizing the Shah of Iran is substantially correct. However, note that about 60 years ago, CIA helped a roughly legitimate (with Iran standards of the time) king back to his thrown rather than just installing someone out of blues. Shah was in the same league as other leaders in the region. That is. not very smart and not very democratic. But later in life he did try to modernize the country and particularly help the condition of women in Iran. Now back to future about 40 years ago Iranian people decided by themselves and without much help from CIA to bring a regime to power which is severely oppressing and isolating them right now. The condition of women has particularly worsen.
So, judging the performance of CIA versus the performance of Iranian people, I think in retrospect ordinary Iranian would agree that CIA picked a better dictator! And for those people who keep referring to Mossadegh, please consider that if he was successful in deposing the shah, who knows maybe by now Iran would have been ruled by a leftist dictator like late Chavez (or like in Egypt, or Pakistan or whatever). The society was not ready for a democratic government.
It is true that majority of learned Iranian people (not the current government of course) are absolutely pro-America. But America has also immensely helped many Iranians by admitting them to its universities, accepting them as immigrants, providing technologies for communication and learning, some of which are created right here in Bay Area, and of course teaching them to make really good burgers!
Midtown
on Apr 4, 2018 at 11:22 pm
on Apr 4, 2018 at 11:22 pm
@transplant: "... CIA helped a roughly legitimate king back to his thrown rather than just installing someone out of blues."
Whaaaaa?!?!?
Sure, they put in place what you refer to as a "roughly legitimate king", AFTER THEY OVERTHREW A DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED GOVERNMENT.
Ya sorta left out the important part, don't ya think?!?
-----------------
Mohammad Mosaddegh was the head of a democratically elected government...